CUA and Drew battle to 1-1 draw; Cardinals earn top seed

Oct 29, 2011

WASHINGTON – On a cold, wet, snowy afternoon, CUA and Drew battled to a 1-1 draw inside Cardinal Stadium on the final day of the regular season. Mike Brennan scored the Cardinals only goal in the fourth minute, and the Rangers pulled even in the 73rd minute with a penalty kick. As a result of the tie, CUA has clinched the top seed in next week's Landmark Conference Tournament.

On a day when the weather made it difficult to generate much offense, CUA got on the board early when Brennan took a feed from Mike DiMarco and chipped the ball over the Rangers' keeper's head for a 1-0 Cardinals lead at the 3:33 mark.

Drew took the next nine shots of the match, but the Cardinals defense was up to the challenge and kept the Rangers off the scoreboard.

Brennan looked to add to CUA's lead with a shot in the 32nd minute, but it sailed wide. That wound up being the final shot of the opening half, sending the teams into intermission with the Cardinals leading 1-0.

Early in the second, CUA had back-to-back chances, but Brennan's shot was blocked and Joe Taylor's went wide.

Later, a Brian Maher attempt at the 56:11 mark for CUA went high, keeping it a 1-0 match.

In the 67th minute Drew got off back-to-back attempts, but Philip Mabika's shot was wide and Kevin Veliz's went high.

With less than 20 minutes to play the intensity picked up on both sides and at the 72:58 mark CUA was whistled for a foul inside the box, which gave Drew a penalty kick. Veliz stepped up and beat CUA keeper Torsten Meuschke to tie things at one.

Neither team had many chances down the stretch and that sent the match into overtime knotted at one.

There were only two shots taken in the first OT, both of which came from Drew, but the Cardinals defense again did its job and the teams headed for another 10-minute session.

The second OT session featured more of the same high intensity from both sides, but neither team was able to generate any scoring and the match ended in a draw.

Drew outshot CUA 24-9 on the day and finished with six corner kicks to the Cardinals' two. Meuschke had a strong afternoon in goal, stopping six shots, while Michael Reyes stopped one shot for the visitors.

Prior to Saturday's match CUA honored its two-man senior class of Mike DiMarco and Brian Maher. That pair has led CUA to 54 victories over the last four seasons, four Landmark Conference Tournament appearances and the 2009 and 2010 conference championships.

The Cardinals now enter the Landmark Conference Tournament as the No. 1 seed and will host Susquehanna on Tuesday afternoon at CUA Soccer Field. Please continue to check cuacardinals.com for the start time.